The Scapegoats of Catholic Sex Abuse

The concept of “scapegoating” dates back to a biblical age. The theory was that a community could load all of their problems on the back of some hapless goat and exile it into the desert, effectively excising the troubles of the community. Sometimes I pine for the good ‘ole days. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could load up a goat with the Pat Robertsons of the world? Unfortunately this idea didn’t work then and it won’t work now, but that hasn’t stopped the Vatican.

Some of you may be saying, “Geesh, Craig what’s with all the Catholic articles lately?”. I’ll tell you. I think Catholicism is and should be on the ropes. The fact that NO charges of any kind have been brought against any member of leadership within the Vatican is absurd. It is now well documented that charges of rape were well known within the Catholic church for decades, it is also well documented that a coordinated cover up was in place to keep the proper authorities in the dark and that the current Pope was intimately involved with sex abuse policy making before becoming the church’s moral compass and God’s inspired messenger. Now back to Catholic scapegoating…

There seems to be a floodÂ of news articles from people looking to “solve” the mystery of , “how this could have happened” Here are two articles from the same magazine. April 12, Newsweek; one of the featured articles is “What Went Wrong”, by George Weigel.Â In the article Mr. Weigel promotes the theory that the church doctrine of celibacy led to the current Catholic crisis. April 12, Newsweek; another featured article is “A Woman’s Place Is In The Church”, by Lisa Miller. In this article Ms. Miller, in no uncertain terms, blames the sexual abuse scandal on the utter lack of femaile involvement within the church. The sexual abuse scandal rocking the Catholic church is really not that hard to figure out. It has NOTHING to do with celibacy and NOTHING to do with a lack of female involvement.

How many times have we heard the stories of sexual abuse taking place from witin a family or by a close friend of the family. How many times has the “new boyfriend” or “favorite uncle” been the perpetrator of such a vile act? Were they celibate? I don’t remember hearing about the rash of “celibacy rapes”, do you? Were any of these “boyfriends” or “uncles” married? One of the most important traits that seperates us from the rest of the animal kingdom is that we fornicate for fun, not just for procreation. That means we CAN control our libidos. The notion that, “well the priest wasn’t gettin’ any, so he raped some kids” is preposterous. Entering the priesthood is a voluntary act, period. If you find that you can’t handle a celibate lifestyle, resign from the priesthood, don’t rape children. Sorry, Mr. Weigel but your postulate has more holes in it than a thurible! (Catholic incense burner…I had to look it up).

As for Ms. Miller’s claim, that a lack of female influence is to blame, I disagree. While the Catholic church is world renown, second only to the Islamic faith, for it’s misogynistic viewpoints, it’s not the lack of women that caused men to rape children. It is just silly to suggest that over the last four decades of child raping within the Catholic priesthood, not one woman was aware and in a position to blow a whistle. No Nun? No church secretary? No one? Let’s not forget, this type of abuse came to light when adults came forward about what happened to them as children. It was in the early 2000’s when the stories and lawsuits began to emerge. Let’s not also forget that it is with a wry smile and a laugh that adult products of a Catholic education often tell stories about abusive Nuns (females) in school. You know, “the Nun used to wrap my knuckles with a ruler” routine, and I’ve heard worse. Females, while not as “powerful” as their male superiors,Â were every bit as much into corporal punishment and suffering for school children back in “the day”.

Now to my postulate for the current sexual abuse scandal assailing the Vatican. When asked, why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton replied, ” ’cause that’s where the money is”. Sometimes the simplest solution is the correct one. Why did so many pedophiles become Catholic Priests, ’cause that’s where the kids were. Think about it. If you’re a pedophile, what more idealic a place to work than where you have regular unchallenged access to children under the guise of spirituality. In a system like Catholicism, designed to engender guilt at every turn, what better place to make children fearful of coming forward about being raped by the very person they perceive to be the gate keeper to eternal happiness?Â Rule number one is nobody talks about rape. Rule number two is nobody talks about rape.

The priesthood served as an ideal hunting ground for pedophiles. Trust, love and divinity. All the ingredients for the pefect serial pedophile.

Catholicism became a (dare I use the word) victim of it’s own dogmatic heirarchy. Had the Vatican truly cared about the children, there would have been dismissals, criminal charges and an outpouring of concern, when these revelations came to light.

Thousands of children worldwide have been raped by their Catholic spiritual caregivers. I’m curious how many times these children prayed to God, asking him to stop their local priest from molesting them? I’m more curious to know how many times God actually did. I guess we should be thankful to God. We all “know” he answers prayers. Just think of how many more rapes would have taken place if God hadn’t stepped in toÂ stop his shepards from raping the youngÂ sheep within his fold! Thanks God.